Southwest Passengers Freak Out After Mistaking ‘Mom’ for ‘Bomb’

Important travel tip: when you’re piloting a plane, it’s essential to enunciate well so that passengers can tell the difference between “bomb” and “mom.” That’s a lesson a Southwest Airlines pilot learned the hard way.

On a Friday flight from Baltimore to Long Island, an air traffic controller told the pilot that his mother was on the plane — but when the pilot made a “fun announcement” of such, Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Brandi King says some of the passengers didn’t hear “mom on board.” They heard “bomb on board.”

This, of course, caused a few people to completely freak out, and flight attendants had to clarify what the pilot had actually said.

Still, when the plane landed, some travelers were rattled enough to complain to security, and now the FAA is investigating (because they apparently don’t have enough to do already). Officials say while the announcement itself wasn’t against regulations, the air traffic controller might be told to keep personal information to himself in the future.